Hawks stand pat

NHL trade deadline passes with club content to go with what it has

Though he already had addressed his most pressing need, Stan Bowman did his due diligence and answered phone calls Wednesday as the NHL trade deadline approached.

Other than a minor deal that actually was the first trade of a relatively sedate deadline day, fielding calls was all it amounted to for the Blackhawks general manager. Bowman listened but was not involved in the other 16 trades that involved 28 players. The GM was content with his acquisition of center Michal Handzus on Monday and stood pat with players already on the roster.

"We did a lot of listening," Bowman said. "There was a lot of talk leading up to (Wednesday) and even a lot of talk (Wednesday) … but nothing we were close on. You have to listen, it's our job to look around at what's available but we have to ask ourselves a question, 'Does it make us better?'

"To make a move just to make a move, we don't believe in that. We had a need at center and to get a little size and (better at) faceoffs and Michal accomplished that a couple of days ago."

Now all that remains to be seen is whether Bowman did enough to add to the roster of the team that entered the day with the most points in the NHL as the postseason nears or whether another move or two would have helped to avoid a third consecutive first-round playoff exit.

"We believe in the group we have here," Bowman said. "I'm very happy with where we're at right now."

Of more importance, the players and coaches believe they have what it takes to make a deep run in the postseason and compete for the Hawks' second Stanley Cup championship in four seasons.

"We're a confident group," said winger Marian Hossa, who is scheduled to return to the ice after missing six games with a shoulder injury when the Hawks face the Blues on Thursday night. "We're doing something special this year and it's a tight group. We've had a great run so we'll see how we are toward the end of the season."

Altering the team's chemistry with the hope of catching lightning with a deadline acquisition proved too risky for Bowman. What the Hawks have had for the most part is what they're going to get during the remaining 13 regular-season games and then playoffs.

"The chemistry has been good," coach Joel Quenneville said. "The combinations up front have been pretty predictable (with) what you get out of them every game, our back end has been better than it has been in the past and our goaltending has been really strong. We've been very pleased … particularly (with) the consistency."

Added Bowman: "We have a lot of depth at every position … which has been the strength of our team. We have young players we have confidence in (and) we have some other players who are rounding into form."

Bowman did pull the trigger on a deal Wednesday, sending forward Rob Flick from Rockford of the AHL to the Bruins for forward Maxime Sauve, who had 10 goals and 13 assists in 52 games with Providence of the AHL.

That was it, though, marking another trade deadline that has come and gone. Now the focus can be placed entirely on what's happening on the ice rather than what's on the cell phone.

"Sometimes it's tricky with teams going into these days with the speculation and the anxiety of potentially some guys being moved in or out," Quenneville said. "As players you can only control what you can control and that's to be ready for the next game."